The Benefits of Friendship
by Adena McGee
Summary: What happens when you take a friendship too far? Rick and Lisa come to an agreement, out of loneliness, out of longing and the process will make them realize some important things about themselves and each other.
1. Chapter 1 - The Setup

_**Any mistakes that you will find are all mine, as I had no beta for this one. If anybody finds any mistakes, please message me and let me know. I probably fudged a bit with the dates and might have gotten them wrong.**_

 _ **This is supposed to take place after the Factory Attack and Rick and Lisa's second kiss. I think it should also take place before Star Mission (because things kind of fell apart at that point) but it is in a time when Rick and Lisa are not actively fighting and Minmay is not in the picture, so probably right before the ill-fated picnic would have happened.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

Chapter 01 - _The Setup_

It was Friday night and _The Setup_ was packed. Rick sighed as he wondered why he had agreed to come here on the first place. He had to admit, he was not a big drinker, so the appeal of a night out drinking and dancing did not call out to him. To be honest, the only reason he had agreed is because he had overheard that the Trio had roped the rest of his friends into going. It was not all the time when their schedules permitted for them to all go out at the same time. He thought that if even even Lisa, as reserved as she normally was, had permitted herself the rare treat, then he could do it too. Even though Rick was not a huge drinker, and certainly not a dancer, he did enjoy a social drink here and there. He especially enjoyed seeing his friends outside of their regular setting when they were more relaxed, in particular, a certain green eyed captain.

Rick was daydreaming about that particular person as he was waiting by the bar. It was his turn to buy a round for everybody. Unfortunately he had been waiting for a while, which lead him to the daydreaming. He had been using that method to pass the time until he realized how long it had actually been. He had tried be patient but he was starting to get annoyed. He could understand the fact that The Setup was a bit crowded tonight but if there was only one bartender for the whole crowd…

He kept trying to sneak glances back to the table his friends were in but he couldn't see past the wall of dancing people. He sighted dejectedly, with his luck, he would spend the whole night away from all of them. How was it that the girls had gotten their drinks much faster? Finally the bartender came back with a tray of drinks for him.

"Ok Captain, here are the drinks for your table. Sorry for taking so long." The guy apologized.

"No problem. Just make sure that you add it to my tab, this is my round."

"Sure thing Cap! By the way, I added a couple of shots as a thank you for your patience."

Rick looked at the tray, just then noticing the extra drinks. He instantly felt bad and demurred, "There's no need for that!"

"Really Cap, take them." He leaned over conspiratorially "We are allowed a couple of freebies every once in awhile and I want to give them to you for being so nice."

Rick decided not to fight with the man again and thanked him. He was sure the Trio would appreciate the free drinks. Claudia could outdrink a sailor, it probably came from the time when she was dating Roy. That left the Sterlings, Lisa and him who were not big drinkers. He wove his way past the dance floor and approached their table just to come to an abrupt stop. Where all his friends had been sitting, the only thing left was a cluster of empty chairs and in the middle of it all was a lonely figure, holding down the fort.

"What happened?" Rick asked a distracted Lisa who seemed to have been staring longingly at the dance floor.

Lisa straightened to attention and looked at him. "There you are! What happened to you Hunter? Did you go and distill the alcohol yourself?" She asked in an abrasive way. Rick just rolled his eyes and smiled at her as he put the drinks down. A long time ago he would have been furious at that comment and would have started a fight with her but after knowing Lisa's sarcastic and caustic humor he knew there was no bite to her bark, at least not unless he had given her an actual reason to get mad at him.

"They only have one bartender for this crowd, can you believe that? Anyway what happened to everybody?"

"Claudia decided it was time to go home and have her last drink with her man so she could go to sleep," Rick and Lisa looked at each other in understanding. Claudia was missing Roy so she probably wanted to reminisce about him. "Max and Miriya decided that they wanted to take advantage of Dana's sleepover at the Grant's so they went home and practice some 'strategic fighting'" Lisa said and Rick winced at the uninvited image that came to his head.

"Really Lisa? TMI."

"Heck if I had to live with the mental image, you might as well too. They are your subordinates after all." She said dryly but Rick could see the little smirk that indicated she was having fun with their banter. Rick really enjoyed this facet of Lisa now that he had discovered it. She had a dry wit that made her seem abrasive and cold but if it was not truly directed to you, it was quite enjoyable and refreshing. Who knew that his CO could be so entertaining!

"How about the girls then?"

"They already hooked up with some guys they had met last week. You can see Sammy there dancing."

So that's what she had been looking at so longingly! Rick thought with understanding. Every once in awhile Rick would catch Lisa in one of those moods in which she missed Karl and that's when her comments turned more acerbic. He should have known something had triggered it but since her comments had been pretty mild, he realized she was not as affected as she usually was by the memories. In any case, it bothered him to see her so sad, even if she was trying to mask it, and so he tried to get her out of that funk by joking with her.

"It seems you are stuck with me then." Rick said with a lopsided smile.

At that moment Lisa looked at the tray he had been carrying. "Hunter, what did you do? Rob the bar? Why did you order so many drinks?"

Rick proceeded to tell her what had happened. After he was done, she said, "Well, what do you want to do with the drinks?"

"Well, here's yours and I have mine." He said, giving her a glass and taking his, which they clinched with a conspiratorial smile. "We'll see what happens with the rest."

"Rick! We can't drink all of this!" Lisa said with a laugh, now truly distracted from her dark thoughts by his playful attitude.

"What? You a lightweight?"

"No you crazy man! There is no way that we can drink it all. I already had a couple of drinks before this. They'll have to cart me out of here if I try to drink all this."

"You are right." Rick said with an exaggerated sigh that proved to her that he was joking.

"For a second there I thought you were trying to get me drunk." Lisa teased him back, the warm glow of the alcohol loosening her tongue a bit.

Rick gulped a bit too much of the drink, not because of the teasing comment but because of the way that she looked at him. Everytime she gave him one of those glances where she looked at him through her eyelashes and wore that little devilish smirk, his insides turned to jelly and a different type of heat than the one from the alcohol infused his insides.

He coughed a little bit, in part from the surprised gulp he had taken from the alcohol and in part from the embarrassment to the reaction her look was giving to him.

"Come on Hunter it was a joke!" She said as she slapped him lightly on his back.

"I know that! It just went the wrong way. Geez, they made this one strong." He said to cover up his embarrassment. She had yet to remove her hand from his back and it was causing quite a tingling on his body. 'What is up with you Hunter?!' Rick thought to himself. This was not the first time that her looks or her innocent touch had caused his body to short circuit as if he had touched a live wire. He wanted to attribute it to the alcohol but he knew he had felt the same even when he had been sober.

Lisa was confused at the intense look that Rick was giving her. Sometimes she felt as if there was something more happening between them but she was not confident enough to address it. So instead she did as she always did and decided to change the conversation.

"Look, there is Kim." She pointed out the spry figure shimmying around the dance floor.

Rick spied the black haired sprite dancing with a guy they did not recognize.

"Well I guess Kim found a new guy for the month." Rick said.

More like the week, Lisa thought but she didn't say anything. Instead she replied, "I don't know how she can just go out with somebody she has just met."

"I know, it sometimes gives me the creeps to think of somebody like that. What kind of person we can meet."

"I know! What if they turn out to be a creep?" Lisa said with a shudder and a slight haunted look on her eyes. Rick decided not to ask any further as he could tell it would lead her in a darker path so instead he decided to distract her.

They spent quite a while talking and teasing each other since the music was buffered by the sound barrier that surrounded the dance floor. It was a great invention, it allowed music to filter through but it was dampened enough that they did not need to scream at each other to make themselves heard. Without them noticing, the tray of drinks was shrinking and their tongues and inhibitions had gotten looser.

"Well, I think the girls are not returning to the table any more." Rick said a bit forlorn.

"They probably retired with their new friends." Lisa said delicately but Rick knew what that implied.

Probably because of the easy camaraderie between the two and the fact that they had drunk quite a bit, Rick felt the need to confess, "Lucky them." He mumbled. At Lisa's look of surprise, he blurted out an explanation. "I have not gotten laid in such a long time!"

Rick was shocked to hear himself say that and Lisa looked at him surprised at his candid admission. He seemed self-conscious about his admission so Lisa decided to be as frank as he had been.

"You think you have it bad? I have not been kissed in exactly 4 months and two weeks." The alcohol had done a good job of removing her reservation.

"Why that is very precise."

"That's because the last time was when you kissed me in the Satellite Factory." She replied glumly.

"I left that much of an impression, huh?"

Lisa looked at him bleary eyed and snorted.

"Maybe we should hook up." Rick said.

Lisa felt as if she had been doused with cold water. "What did you say?"

"Well think about it, we both are single, we know each other so we are not creepy strangers… Heck, we are best friends!" Rick said, getting excited about the idea.

"I don't think…" Lisa started to say but Rick cut her off.

"But think about it," Rick said, warming even more to the idea, "You like my kisses, " Lisa gave him a killer look. "Well, at least they are not bad."

"If you are fishing for a compliment, they are quite tolerable." Rick gave her a blinding smile.

"Come on, I'm just better than tolerable."

"Really…"

"Yes, and I can prove it." Rick said enthusiastically as he got closer.

"What are you thinking?!" Lisa hissed. "Not here! I'm not about to give a public performance." Lisa might be slightly tipsy and potentially rather drunk to be having that conversation with Rick but she still retained a bit of her lucidity.

"You are right." Rick said, thinking about it for a second. With a snap, he got up and told her. "Drink up, we are leaving." He said as he downed his drink in one gulp.

"What?" Lisa asked him surprised. She had never seen Rick doing shots or gulping down drinks in that manner before.

"Drink up, drink up!" Rick encouraged and she took a little sip. Or at least she tried to make it little and it ended up being much more than what she usually would have drunk. She was just too distracted by the fanatical gleam she saw in his eye.

As soon as she put the drink down, Rick dragged her out of her seat and started walking away with her.

"Where are we going?" Lisa said as he kept on dragging her along. They had reached a darkened area of the club before he stopped to face her.

"I'm going to prove to you that it's worth it."

"What?!" Her poor alcohol fogged brain could not keep up with the conversation. Who knew that Rick was so hyper with alcohol… Her thoughts were suddenly stopped because he was kissing her, really kissing her and not like the previous two times, where there was minimal body contact, this time he had grabbed her hips and set her flush to his own body. Lisa had never been this close to Rick before and she could feel his hard body against her and it was making her crazy.

'Oh my, he was really good.' Was the only thing that Lisa could think as she melted against him. Just as things would have gotten more heated, he raised his lips from her, leaving her even more disoriented than before.

"So what do you think?" Rick asked, just as annoyingly cheerful, even if he sounded much more breathless than before.

"Well that was…" Lisa could barely string two words together.

"I know! Wow, you are like fire. So do you agree?"

'He thinks I'm like fire? That's good right?' It had felt like fire… "Yes." She breathed, not really remembering what she was agreeing to.

"Let's go and talk about it." He said, dragging her again to parts unknown.

They made it to his house in record time and while the walk did sober them up a bit, the whole night was still fuzzy arounds the edges. 'Had he really kissed her like that?' Lisa asked herself, still in a daze.

The walk had been short, short enough to clear their minds a bit but not enough to erase the effects of the alcohol completely. Rick did not really want to think about what he had done. Or truly he didn't want to analyze what it meant. It had felt so good to have her on his arms, it felt so right, like she really belonged there… So logically, at least for his fogged up mind it was logical, he decided to do just that. Also if there was one thing about Rick, it was that when he got an idea through his head, it was really tough to remove it. And right now the only thing he could think about was tasting her lips again.

He pulled a surprised Lisa to him and her body naturally molded to his. The alcohol and the surprise had made her malleable to his demands. That's how Lisa found herself in Rick's arms again in a heated embrace. He kissed her again, his lips hungry and demanding. Her response was slow at first but then she gave in.

The kisses and the alcohol were making their minds fuzzy and removed their inhibitions. Their pent-up passion, the one that they worked so hard to deny everyday, finally exploded and its flames consumed them. Lisa thought that they should really stop and talk about it but just being in Rick's arms finally was her wish come true. She knew there would be consequences but right now she really did not care.

Lisa's bladder woke her up the next morning. Knowing she had the day off, she tried to will it away but the need was strong. Without opening her eyes, she tried to make her way to the bathroom. Unfortunately her forward process was hampered by the minefield of littered shoes and clothing on the floor. She found such a mess odd but she was in too much hurry to go to really analyze it. For some reason she missed the opening to her bathroom, which was strange because she was so familiar with the layout of her house, she could go to and from her bathroom without opening her eyes by now. When she finally found the door, which seemed to have shifted positions for some weird reason, she ended up stubbing her toe. She cursed quite fluently while the pain of her toe mixed with that of her bladder as she tried to find the light switch. Everything seemed out of place and her muddled brain tried to make sense of it. She finally cracked her eyes half open and she looked around bleary eyed. Her confused brain finally realized where she was and she groaned. She fell asleep at Rick's? Not an unusual occurrence since they had sometimes crashed at each other's houses. But as her brain finally woke up, she realized she was not wearing a stitch of clothing. What the heck had she been thinking? Did she sleep naked? At Rick's? What if he would have walked in on her for some reason? Well, that explained the explosion of clothing and shoes that were strewn about on the floor.

Snippets of last night finally started to filter through her abused brain and she remembered Rick's kiss in the bar and the conversation that had sparked it…

"Oh no!" Lisa whispered. 'What had they done?' She thought in a panic. 'Did they really…' She didn't even want to finish that thought in her head.

Lisa frantically grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself as she suddenly had to find out if her suspicions were correct.

Rick felt the bed dip and some noises followed by a thump. It was the inventive cursing though that finally woke him up. While still in that state of half awake, Rick snorted as he heard a woman, he assumed it was Lisa, after all, who else would have slept in his bed… 'Wait a minute!' Rick suddenly opened his eyes fully and sat up in bed. 'Did that mean that she slept next to him in his bed? And was he… naked?'

Fearfully, Rick peeked under the covers and as his eyes confirmed what his brain already had informed him, he broke in a cold sweat. 'Holy cow! What had happened?'

He looked around for some clues and saw the strewn about clothing, the mussed up covers and his brain finally started to provide the missing pieces to this puzzle. Had he really proposed THAT to his CO?

All of the sudden he heard the sound of the toilet flushing and his eyes flew towards the bathroom door where he saw an equally confused Lisa peek out the door. She was only wrapped in a towel, further supporting the suspicion that had been forming in his brain.

As their eyes met, they both groaned out loud. In that instant, both of them knew that what they had feared had actually happened. With a little scream, Lisa hid back in the bathroom and closed the door with a thump.

Rick groaned again. Great! With one night they had managed to screw up their friendship. Also if he was not mistaken, based on what he could remember it had been his idea on the first place. Lisa was going to kill him, if he didn't die from embarrassment first! Rick went on panic mode and decided to try to make things right again.

He reached over and grabbed some clothing from his dresser to get dressed. After covering himself up, he grabbed Lisa's clothing, with the intention of presenting it to her as a peace offering. As he gathered it in his hands though, he realized it smelled stale from last night's club. So he looked for a clean shirt and a clean pair of pants for her to wear, even if they would be too big for her. Understanding how embarrassed she must feel, being such a private person, he approached the door cautiously and said, "Lisa I'm leaving some clean clothing for you. Why don't you get dressed and then we can talk?" Hearing a sound that was a cross between a groan and a whimper, Rick said, "Don't worry, I know what it looks like but we will talk about it, together. Just freshen up and come out when you are ready."

He was about to leave the room when he came across Lisa's undergarments by the bed. Cautiously, he grabbed them, but the thought of handling them made him break out in a cold sweat and he decided to leave them where he found them. He then rushed out of the room as if he could run away from the mess they had created.

After seeing Rick shirtless and potentially nude as her under those covers, Lisa hid inside of the bathroom. Leaning against the door, Lisa felt like hyperventilating. 'Oh my God! What have I done?' She couldn't believe that she had thrown all sensibility out of the window after a couple of drinks. Oh why couldn't she had gotten sick instead of just plain out drunk? At least that humiliation would have paled in comparison to this one. How could she face Rick now? Had she said some things last night? Had she confessed how she felt about him? Oh why couldn't her stupid brain remember?

All of the sudden, a knock startled her out of her thoughts. "Lisa I'm leaving some clean clothing for you. Why don't you get dressed and then we can talk?" She whimpered in distress. Rick continued, "Don't worry, I know what it looks like but we will talk about it, together. Just freshen up and come out when you are ready."

She couldn't believe how calmly Rick was handling the whole thing when she was a nervous wreck. But of course Rick had no problem in having sex with her, he wasn't secretly in love with her. She on the other hand…

It seemed like hours but she knew it must have been only five minutes since Rick left the room before she felt enough courage to peek outside to make sure she was by herself. She saw a pile of clothing by her that looked like Rick's and she was confused as to why he would have left that there. Ignoring it, she went for her clothing but as she got to her shirt, she understood the reason why Rick had done that. The clothing stank so bad it almost made her gag. Leaving it on the floor for later, she rushed to put a T-shirt which was obviously baggy and a pair of sweatpants that she had to hem it a couple of times before she could walk without tripping. Even after getting dressed, she hesitated before going out to confront Rick.

As Rick was preparing breakfast, his mind started to provide all the information that had been previously missing. And as many holes as his memory had, he definitely remembered all the key parts, even if they were a bit blurry. He remembered his proposition to Lisa and his decision to prove he was "worthy" by kissing her. What had started as a crazy idea turned into a real possibility after that kiss. Even though he had kissed Lisa a couple of times in the past, he had to admit that he had always been distracted from what they were doing because of the groaning sounds of the aliens, to Ben's gasp, to thoughts of betraying Minmay… he had never given Lisa, or their kisses, the time of day. But last night it had all been about them, and only them.

When he had decided to prove himself to her last night, he had been the one to be taken aback by their powerful reaction to each other. After the initial surprise, Lisa had finally kissed him back and her kisses turned on something in him that he had not felt in a long while. For a moment he had forgotten where he had been and the only thing that he could think about was the woman that he held in his arms. He couldn't believe he had been so comfortable with her! He also couldn't believe how unbelievably passionate Lisa could actually be. He didn't think anymore that she was the cold fish that he had initially called her in many occasions but last night had opened his eyes to a whole new side of her. Granted he couldn't remember all the details but damn, the things that he could remember! He was really looking forward to redoing them all over again.

Wait… did he really want to? Did he really want to repeat that crazy night again with Lisa Hayes? Minus the drinks of course. The next time he wanted to remember everything. Did he really want to go down that road? The more that he thought about it, the more that he thought that yes. He did want to repeat that night with her and only with her. He wanted to explore that luscious body that he could only remember glimpses of. As he was recalling these images, he heard the bedroom door creak open and he turned to face his CO, best friend now turned lover.

Lisa was having the same tumultuous thoughts as Rick was. She could hear him bustling about in the little kitchen but she just couldn't find the courage to get up from the bed and face him. After she had gotten dressed, she had gathered last night's clothing and had been ready to walk out, of the room, potentially walk out of his house, when her courage deserted her and she had sat down heavily in bed.

She had had a one night stand with the man she was secretly in love with. Or at least it was a secret to him. Everybody else pretty much knew or assumed it was so. They were practically attached at the hip in some cases. When they were not working together in harmony, they were fighting like cats and dogs. In her case, most of her fighting was now caused by the frustration of having him so close and not being able to reveal her real feelings to him. The fact that she had fulfilled one of her dreams, to be with him, and not being able to remember the whole thing was, like the rest of her life, one of the biggest ironies on par with the rest of her rotten luck. The alcohol had only helped her to lose her reservations and inhibitions and she had been able to demonstrate to him how much she cared for him.

Unfortunately that same liquid courage had wiped away most of her memory, making it fuzzy and rendering it useless as a keepsake. She wondered if Rick remembered any of it. She couldn't remember any conversation from them after the first initial one. From what she could remember, the only conversation that they'd had after they came back had mostly taken place with their bodies. Lisa was still terrified though that, while letting go, and in an already uninhibited state, she had somehow revealed her deepest secret. She heard a lull on the noise and she panicked, thinking that he would come over and look for her.

She decided that she had hidden long enough and that it would be better to go out on her own terms. She left her clothing on the bed where she had been sitting and went to face him.

The door creaked open and Rick turned to face her. He looked just as apprehensive as she felt. They looked at each other for a while, neither knowing what to say. Finally Rick was the first one to speak.

"Are you mad?"

"Mad? No.. I'm not! " She said in a rush and Rick believed her. "We are consenting adults and what we did was consensual… I mean we both agreed to it."

Rick let out a breath. That question had been weighing on his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to lose her friendship over a casual one night stand. He was glad that their relationship was more solid than that. Looking at her, and the way that she was avoiding his gaze, he could tell that she was still nervous and ashamed about what had happened. There were still stigmas about a woman doing this kind of casual thing and he knew Lisa's dad was very conservative so he understood her hesitation. Also Lisa was not the kind to sleep around. This was the woman that was still hung up over her dead fiance 8 years later. So he decided to make her feel more at ease before they tackled their important conversation.

"Come on, we should eat first. I don't know about you but I have a pounding headache and my stomach feels like it wants to crawl out of my throat any minute now."

Lisa had to smile a bit at his description and tone. Trust Rick to make her feel somewhat at ease after all that had happened. She did feel indeed a bit sick and still apprehensive so she needed a bit more time to compose herself.

Her smile wobbled a bit as she approached him on the table. The both sat down quietly and started drinking some very strong coffee and some toast. Rick had put together some other things that he had found on his cupboards and fridge but they were too nervous and hungover to really eat anything more. At the end, they barely made a dent on their food. Normally Rick would have wolfed down half of the table, he still was a growing boy he claimed and he had quite a healthy appetite. As for Lisa, although she didn't eat that much, she normally ate a hearty breakfast to start her day, so for them both this was nothing. But the hangover and all the unanswered questions made them both too apprehensive to eat and they finally stopped.

"I guess you are not too hungry either, huh?" Rick asked with a lopsided smile.

Lisa just shook her head, her eyes big as saucers, knowing that the time had come for them both to talk.

"Why don't we go to the couch where we will be more comfortable? Just leave the dishes, this is more important." Rick said and offered his hand to her. Lisa nodded in agreement and took his hand, letting herself be lead just like she had done last night.

After they both sat down, Rick asked her, "What do you remember?" Rick said softly.

"I remember us talking about..."

"Us not getting laid…" He supplied, as she almost choked on what she was saying before.

"Yes, then you took me to the back and we kissed…" Rick raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for her to talk even more. He was fascinated by rosy blush that was climbing over her cheeks. He knew that he should save her from all the embarrassment but she needed to confront what they had done. If she retreated now, then the conversation would shut down before it was even started. He needed her to face what they had done, just like he had done it already so that they could move on.

"And…"

"Don't you remember what happened? Or are you asking me to fill in all the blanks?" Lisa asked in a peevish tone. She was getting more embarrassed by the minute, and his open gaze and mischievous blue eyes were not helping her be more at ease. On the contrary, it seemed like he was enjoying hearing her say it. So she retreated to her usual Commanding Officer mask as a refuge. Unfortunately, Rick knew her too well.

"Oh I remember! I remember quite a bit. I don't know how we coordinated as much as we finally did but I do remember where it all lead us, to that bed over there," he said, nodding towards the open door. "And to a rather surprising night." Lisa was as red as a tomato by now and she was avoiding his gaze.

"Hey, look at me." He said gently, shaking her hands gently, hands that he had never let go since they had both sat down. "Look, I know it was not the ideal situation. To be honest the only thing that I regret is that I don't remember if I treated you right. I'm hoping I did. Do you feel ok?"

Lisa looked at him wide eyed. She was floored at the concern that she heard on his voice. She was also scared that he thought he had hurt her in any way. "No, I am fine. From what I remember, what little I remember, it felt good."

"Here I was hoping it was more than good." Rick said, still teasing her.

"Well, you know… Rick! Stop teasing me!" Lisa said, catching up to his little game. It was the same line of conversation that had brought them into this mess on the first place.

"Ok, ok! What else worries you then?... " Suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Oh, I guess… I've had all my shots, even the contraceptive ones, recently in my last checkup. So even if you didn't have yours…"

"No, God no! I hadn't even thought of that! Yes, I've had my shots recently too. Remember? We both met at the clinic."

"So then, that's settled. There's nothing to worry in that regard." He replied, strangely out of breath. For some reason the inkling of the idea of her getting pregnant was strangely disturbing and appealing at the same time. Rick decided to shove that idea to the back of his head and deal with it later. Now he still had a proposition to get to.

"You know, we never really got to the conversation part, we jumped to the deed right away." Rick said tentatively.

Lisa looked at him sharply. Was he actually trying to revive last night's drunken proposition?

"Rick, what are you trying to get to? Do you really expect us to talk about that?"

"And why not?" Rick asked blandly and Lisa almost spluttered a thousand different reasons why before she just said, "This is all a terrible idea!"

"But why?"

"Because we are friends! And this could ruin us in the long run! What happens when we stop?"

"It's already messed up! I can't stop thinking about how great you felt in my arms. I remember it as one of the best nights of my life. Wasn't it like that for you?"

It was the best night of her life! Lisa wanted to scream at him. But it was because she was in love with him and this was the fulfillment of all her fantasies. But she was not going to be that open with him.

"Who cares if it was great...!"

"It was awesome." RIck interrupted her but had to shut up when she looked at him with the patented Captain Hayes glare.

"But how can you propose something like this when you are in love with another woman?" She finished.

That statement seemed to go through him like no other. His excited face shut down and he turned his face away from her. As much as it had pained her to say it and to have this confirmation as her answer, she just wanted to get through to him and she knew that the Minmay card would be the only thing that would work. She did not expect however his next question.

"Do you still love Karl?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Karl Riber, do you still love him?"

"Rick, why are you bringing him up? Karl is dead, there is nothing I can do about it. But Minmay is still alive. There is no way I can ever be together with him."

"But you still love him."

"Of course I do! But... "Rick put a finger lightly on her lips.

"My love for Minmay is like yours for Karl. It was a long time ago and we are not the same people that we were when we both met. As much as you cannot have Karl back, I cannot have Minmay ever again. We both belong in two different worlds."

Lisa looked at him in shock. Rick seemed a bit melancholic but he was not sad or in pain from this. It wasn't the first time he had alluded at something similar but he had never really expressed it in so many words. It was also the first time where he seemed at ease with this. To be really honest, anytime that the subject of Minmay ever came up she hurriedly changed the subject so she did not know how he felt about it lately. It almost sounded as he had given up on his dream of being with the pretty little singer. Could that mean that there might be a chance for someone new to come into his heart?

That glimmer of hope made his crazy idea start sounding more appealing and for a second Lisa actually entertained the idea. It almost started to make sense until she thought about their friends. "But how are we going to get around our friends? People will start to notice."

"Let them talk, it's not like they don't do it all the time." Rick said unconcerned. Lisa was starting to get worried about this new facet of Rick Hunter that she had never met. He was sounding a little bit too much like his Big Brother, may he rest in peace. "We can always pretend we have met other people." He said with a shrug. "That will give us a little bit of time."

"That will never work! Claudia will want to meet whatever guy I have met. Also Max and Miriya will want to meet whomever you are dating."

"I can handle Max and Miriya. I'll just tell them it's casual. You on the other hand... it might be harder to cover up. We'll play it by ear. I'll come up with something. They might not even notice." Lisa gave him an exasperated look that said, 'do you really think so?'

"So what do you say? Do we do this?"

Lisa nodded in apprehension and a sense of deja vu from last night.

"How about we seal it with a kiss?" Rick said suggestively. Rick tries to get her closer to him and she stops him in a panic.

"What are you doing? You don't mean..."

"There's no time like the present..." He said as he closed the gap between them.

A/N:

Ok, Please don't kill me everybody! I know I should be finishing the LAST chapter in _A Spacefold Away_ instead of starting a new story but the muse would not leave me alone! So, I decided to let it win and hopefully it will help me update the other two stories. _Spacefold_ IS on the works right now and I have to go back to _The Battle for Earth_ and really plan out what I am doing with that one so I can finally sit down to finish it. I have a better plan for this one so I am a lot more optimistic!

Please bear with me on this one! I used to watch too many Telenovelas/Soap Operas when I was a child and I am afraid some of that has leaked into this story. I will be stretching the limits of reality a bit since in some cases having a regular conversation as adults would solve some of the problems but what would be the fun in that, right? So it will be a bit melodramatic and a bit far fetched but just enough for the story to make sense. I will try to ground it in reality as much as I can because I don't believe in making it too fakey either. Hopefully you can all enjoy the story as it unfolds.


	2. Chapter 2- In For a Penny

A/N: Wow, I was shocked to realize that it's already been more than a month since I published this story. Time flies! I'm having a really hard time writing this first couple of chapters because of the content. Being the type of story that it is, I am halfway tempted to change the ratings to Mature. I've been trying to find a balance in which I can describe what is happening in the story (and let's face it, the story is about how they start a sexual relationship) and still keep the current rating. So as a warning, there is a lot of lemony goodness in this story. If you prefer something more "tame" my other stories are not as explicit.

Chapter 02 -

The next day, after that fateful conversation that started the most surreal day of Lisa's life, she sat on the command center, waiting for her shift to end. The day was rather uneventful and so she and the Trio were allowing themselves a lazy break. While she had stayed behind on the top floor of the bridge of the SDF-2, Vanessa had preferred to go downstairs and sit by her friends. Lisa actually was grateful for the privacy as she drank her coffee since it allowed her to remember what had happened yesterday.

Rick and her had had that conversation in which they had finally agreed to continue on what could be the craziest, happiest time of her life. As she daydreamed, she couldn't help but have a silly smile on her face. Even though she could still only remember fuzzy details from that fateful night two days prior, those images had now been partly replaced by the memories of what had happened yesterday after their conversation.

-Flashback-

Just after consenting to Rick's crazy proposition, Rick had leaned over and kissed her, intent on repeating the activities from the previous night. Lisa had promptly panicked, it was one thing to have crazy uninhibited sex when you were drunk and in the darkness of the night, another was to do it in full daylight!

"Rick!" She had complained in between kisses. "I don't know if now is a good time." She demurred. She was nervous of what he would think of her in the light of the day.

"Don't worry, we won't do anything that you don't want, I promise." He said soothingly but as he said that, he could not stop the heated kisses that were becoming more intoxicating than any alcoholic drink.

Just like the night before, the kisses that they were sharing right now were so far removed from the ones they had shared in the other two occasions, that they seemed they were lived by different people. Because there was no way that they could have missed this fiery feeling when they kissed before, right? They were sitting in the sofa, still side by side from each other. Rick's hand has started innocently enough by grabbing one of Lisa's hands. He decided to test the waters and he placed his other hand on her thigh by her knee. Lisa jumped a little bit, but she did not dislodge his hand from where he had put it. As the kiss intensified, he longed to feel more of her luscious body. His hand lazily started to caress her outer thigh, from hip to knee.

Little by little he got her to relax and he allowed himself to get bolder. As his kisses distracted her, he gently lay her on the length of the sofa and bent over her until his body covered hers. He wanted to feel as much as he could of her body. Even though he covered her completely, he tried to make sure that he was not crushing her. He kissed her neck as his hand was now running from her thigh, all the way to her waist. She was making some soft mewling sounds but he could tell she was still struggling to keep her self-control. He wanted to hear the deep moans she had been making last night, those sounds that he could not forget. He realized that he was losing control of the situation really fast and he tried to reign himself in.

All of the sudden his weight left her and her body felt cold and abandoned. Lisa's eyes popped open in shock at the suddenness of his departure. She found him next to her though, his chest heaving and his head resting in the backrest. His eyes were half closed and so darkened with passion that she could barely see the blue in them. Her heart stopped as she thought that she had done something wrong but before the guilt and shame could kick in, Rick said "I had to stop, if I didn't, I would not have been able to keep my promise and let you have control." His voice was hoarse with pent up desire.

Lisa sat up next to him and looked at him silently. His stance was open and leaving no secrets about the effect she had on him. Instead of hiding anything from her, he decided to show her how it was all on her court by raising his arms to the back of the sofa and just wait for her to call the shots. Feeling a bit self conscious and vulnerable, he closed his eyes to give her time to digest his words. As he waited, he wondered what was it about her that could inflame him so much. It didn't matter if they were fighting or kissing they could burn through each other's self-control and, just like with their arguments, their passion could blind them.

Seeing him so open made Lisa a bit bolder. She put her hand in the center of his chest, feeling his heartbeat beat a mile a minute. Slowly she mapped the contours of his chest through the t-shirt he was wearing. Rick just watched her with hooded eyes, waiting for her to get used to him and to this new situation. Her shy, gentle caresses were driving him wild. He didn't know how she could have that effect on him. He loved the look of concentration that she was giving him and he thought about how methodical she could be. 'How would it feel to have that laser like focus on him?' One thing was for sure, with Lisa he was sure that she was not thinking about anybody else while concentrating on him. And that thought enflamed him to no end.

As Lisa noticed that Rick was letting her have the lead, she wanted to do more to him. She looked at him intently and a delicious shiver went down her spine as she saw the banked fire on his gaze. 'What would it feel to have that same passion for life that Rick had unleashed on her?' Would there be anything left after this interlude? Or would his fire consume her? At this moment, Lisa didn't really care. She would give herself this little moment in time and damn the consequences. For this little interlude she would pretend that he was hers and she would love him with all her heart.

She got up from her seat but instead of leaving, as Rick feared for a split second, she actually stepped between his legs, that were still spread, and leaned in to kiss him. Her hands framed his face and without breaking the kiss, she sat on his lap, straddling him. Rick opened his eyes in shock at the unexpected action. Lisa stopped kissing him for a second as she felt his reaction. She looked at his surprised face, cradled in her hands, and gave him the smile of a vixen. At her look, so full of heat, Rick gave up pretending that he was not participating and leaned over to kiss her again. His arms left the back of the sofa, his hands started roaming her back and his thumbs lightly grazed the sides of her breasts.

The more heated their kisses, the more their bodies demanded more closeness. Rick's hands kneaded her lush buttocks as he urged her to be even closer to him. Lisa could feel the hard proof of his excitement between her legs as she rocked her heat against him. And while their bodies mimicked the dance of love that could take them to paradise, they never removed their clothes. Rick was intoxicated by the passion that she exuded. He was going crazy with desire and his hands and mouth did not care that there was clothing separating them, he still touched her and kissed her everywhere he could. Lisa could not stop the gasps of pleasure as his big, gentle hands palmed the weight of her breasts and she couldn't stop arching her back when he sucked her nipple straight through the thin t-shirt she was wearing.

"Rick!" Lisa wailed, the same sound her remembered from the night before and he was almost consumed by his passion then and there. A semblance of reason made him stop and he was now the one that cradled her face between his outstretched hands. He put his forehead on hers and their breaths mingled as they both tried to catch their breaths. Lisa's eyes had been closed but now they opened in confusion and her lashes tickled his nose like a soft butterfly opening its wings. Blue met green and he could read the silent question.

"I can't hold back any more. If we keep this any longer I will take you right here and I don't think that you deserve that."

Lisa looked at him in silence. She had been so far gone that she would not have cared where she was as long as he kept touching her. The fact that he had wanted something better for her warmed her heart and reminded her again why she was so in love with that man.

She looked so cute and so young with her hair all mussed and her lips swollen from his kisses that he almost kicked himself for stopping. But then he remembered that this was not any woman off the street, this was, at the end of the day, his best friend.

"So what do you suggest fly-boy?" She asked in her husky voice.

They decided to give themselves another day. Rick promised to meet her at her house the next day and they would take it from there. There were still some things to talk about and both of them were too distracted to think about much. So with a promise to continue at a later time, they both said goodbye until the next day.

Xxxxxxxxxcxxxxx

While Lisa was busy remembering, the girls were using their own breaktime to participate in their favorite pastime, gossiping about Lisa.

"Hey Vanessa, what happened to the Captain?" Sammy whispered to the bespeckled friend. Vanessa was the only one that actually sat with Lisa in the newly designed SDF-2 bridge so they were not as close to her as they used to. Also their new duties did not keep them in that much contact with the taciturn woman as they used to before.

"What do you mean?" Vanessa said, perplexed.

"She is way too happy." Sammy remarked.

"Did you slip her something on her coffee this morning? Like a happy drug? Man, we should have thought of that sooner!" The always irreverent Kim said.

"Kim!" Vanessa scolded her.

"Maybe Dr. Lang is doing an experiment and she is their first test subject." Sammy said next, warming up to the idea of crazy scenarios that could help their moody friend.

"Maybe she got promoted." Vanessa offered defensively. She felt rather protective of Lisa who was closer in age to her than the other two friends. Also working with her rather closely made her admire the hard working woman much more. Sammy and Kim groaned at the boring suggestion. "Well, maybe she got a massage. Can you imagine how tense she has to be with all the stress in her life?" Vanessa suggested, trying to reign in the crazy ideas her friends were spitting out.

Sammy's eyes twinkled at that innocent suggestion and remarked. "What kind of massage?" Sammy said suggestively and Kim almost howled with laughter, especially when Vanessa just rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in despair.

Not to be outdone by her younger friend, Kim suddenly thought of a better one. "Or maybe…. maybe she got laid." Kim said and both Sammy and Vanessa stopped bickering and turned to her in silence.

"Really Kim?!" Vanessa said as she watched her two friends close to rolling on the floor with laughter. "Is that the only thing you think about? You should both get your mind off the gutter!"

"Oh because you don't appreciate a good romp every once in awhile." Kim said in a sing song voice.

"That's not it! You should just give her some respect, she's not like you."

"Oh really?" Sammy said. "You don't think that if Captain Hunter gave her a little hint, she wouldn't jump to his bed in a heartbeat?"

"As if he would give her the time of day!" Kim fired back.

"Well I did hear that they spent the night together when we all went out the other day." Sammy whispered conspiratorially.

"Tell us something that we did not know." Kim said, bored. "It's not like they have not done that before and Claudia said Lisa admitted they just behave like friends crashing at each other houses."

"What a shame…"

"But who knows, maybe this time it was different." Kim said as she wiggled her eyebrows. Sammy just laughed. Vanessa was about to say something else when they heard the door upstairs whoosh and they suddenly fell silent as they tried to determine who it was. The newcomer started talking to Lisa and they recognized the distinctive, familiar voice.

"Well speak of the devil." Sammy said mischievously.

"Let's listen in." Kim whispered.

"No, we can't do that." Vanessa replied, horrified at the idea of eavesdropping on their friend.

"Well, we will know if we do."

"Let's do it!" Sammy said, keeping Vanessa at bay as they turned on the intercom on mute.

"Hey Lisa! How are you?"

"Hi Rick!"

"Here is my report."

"Thanks. You could have left it in my mailbox." Kim made a gesture like a yawn.

"Yeah, you are right but I wanted to come by and say hi. Also I wanted to ask you if you were doing something this Friday." That made the girls perk up.

"Maybe. I might have to check my calendar." Lisa said coyly.

Rick laughed and said "Yeah I can imagine that you will start getting busy from now on." The girls looked at each other at that cryptic statement. "Well, if you are not busy, I wanted to invite you and Claudia over for dinner. We haven't done anything together lately."

"Don't you want to come over to my house? My place is larger."

"You are right but that way I can walk you to your houses after since you live so close together and I won't have to worry about you both walking around at night. Plus, it will force me to clean up my house." He said with wry humor.

Lisa laughed heartily at that. "Ok mister, I will tell Claudia. I will try not to make other plans for that day."

"Cool, see you around!" And with that, he left.

After the Captain left, the girls looked at each other.

"See, I told you!" Vanessa said after the whole thing was done.

"How absolutely disappointing." Sammy said.

"And you expected anything else?" Kim said in disgust as they went back to their duties.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Much later in the evening, after both of their shifts were done, Rick and Lisa sat together in Lisa's sofa. Rick had come in a few minutes ago and they were both discussing what had happened that day.

"Ha! That was so well played! You can be a great actress."

"You are not so bad yourself, Hunter."

"I'm so glad that you let me know that they were listening! Not that I would have said anything," Rick said exasperated. "I'm not an idiot. But we got to put our plan into action even earlier than expected."

"Yes, I heard them whispering and laughing so I started paying attention to their conversation. When I heard your name, I suspected they were talking about us. I guess it was great timing of your part to come in at that minute so we could put on that show." Lisa remarked. Although she seemed completely ok with the idea, her heart was bleeding a bit inside. What did she expect? That he would confess his undying love for her after what had happened the day before and the night before that? Rick had made it perfectly clear what he thought about their relationship and there was no indication that it would change at any point.

" You know, we never really set any ground rules." Lisa said worriedly. SHe had been thinking about it the whole day and now that they were together she made a point of bringing it up.

"Ground rules? What do you mean?" Rick asked, confused.

"Like for example, you are not planning on spending the night though, right?"

"No, heck no!" Rick said. "That would be weird, right? I mean, people might not really be paying attention at what you do around the neighborhood but having a guy repeatedly leaving your house at the wee hours in the morning would look mighty suspicious."

"Ok, just wanted to make sure..." Lisa fidgeted in her seat. Rick had never really realized how Lisa played with her fingers when she was nervous. It was kind of endearing.

"No, this is casual. Casual stuff. Anytime we, kind of want to… We just come over, in my case, you can just come over. I don't have anything to hide… I don't know, do you want me to call?" Rick said, understanding now what Lisa meant by laying out the ground rules. He realized that there were situations that needed to be talked about before hand.

"Well, for me you can come anytime too I guess." Lisa said. "Even if Claudia were here, she would not think twice of you coming over…"

"Ok, this is good. We are talking about it…" Rick said nervously. "So on the subject of sleeping over… I still get a little nap though right? You know you wear me out."

"Don't try to be coy with me Hunter. All men get worn out after, after the deed. So don't fault it on me."

"Man, here I am, trying to give a lady a compliment.."

"A backhanded one at that." Lisa interjected.

"And I get shot down." Rick finished. "That is why we can't do anything nice for you ladies."

"Oh, whatever! You need to get yourself some better pickup lines if you are going to get yourself a girlfriend after this." Lisa commented casually but Rick's only reply was to laugh it off.

Lisa felt a bit overwhelmed by him and the whole situation they found themselves in. Like right now, they were sitting next to each other in the sofa as they were talking and even though at first glance it seemed like it was something like any other day, it was not. Even though they had shared a lot of times together, talking and joking on the sofa, they had always been very aware about not invading each other's personal space. Today though, there was none of that consideration from him. Rick was sitting more comfortably than she had ever seen him. His legs were open in a lazy manner and his arms were resting on the back of the sofa. His pose reminded her of the one from yesterday and that served to remind her of what she had done to him. Because of the way he was sitting, his legs kept bumping against hers in a manner that was quite disturbing for someone that was not used to having that much physical contact with anybody. She didn't find it unpleasant, not at all, it just had her… on edge.

As he was talking, Rick observed Lisa carefully. She seemed to be ready for flight at a moment's notice. He knew she was nervous and he was trying to make her feel more comfortable in his presence. Not for the first time, he wondered about the dichotomy that was Lisa Hayes. This scared, almost wooden looking doll did not seem to fit the fiery passionate vixen that he had felt the day before. He longed to coax that aspect of her to the forefront, if at least with him. He certainly did not feel like sharing that side of her with anybody else.

"Well, this is awkward." Lisa said, stating the obvious. They both looked at each other for a tense second and started laughing.

"Well now we know that planning it is a buzz kill." Rick said laughing and Lisa had to agree. Rick looked at her smiling face, so young and carefree and his heart warmed up at the sight. He had to admit, he couldn't think of doing anything like this with anybody else. "Lisa, do you trust me?" He asked, holding her hands.

Lisa blinked at the unexpected question. "What do you mean by trust you? You mean with my body, with my life? Because obviously I do with both." She said ruefully. 'That she didn't trust him with her heart was another matter.' She thought bitterly, but she stamped that thought as soon as it came.

Rick was humbled by her answer and again marvelled at what he had done to deserve to have a woman such as her by his side. With a warm smile, he got up from his seat and with their clasped hands, urged her to get up too. Lisa looked at him questionly and he not so subtly nodded in the direction of her room. Lisa could feel the heat on her face and she could not stop the blush that was spreading over her when she realized what he meant. Taking a deep breath, she lead the way.

When they entered her room, Rick slowed their progress a bit. Every time that he'd had to enter the room to use her bathroom, he usually did it in a hurry, a bit embarrassed to be trespassing her domain but now he had actually been invited in. He couldn't stop his eyes from roaming the elegant and tidy room. Just like the owner, her room was bright and cozy, devoid of too much clutter. It was no-nonsense, just like her but that did not mean that it was less feminine because of it. There was no pink to be found in her room, instead there was a bright aqua bed spread and silvery pillows that contrasted with the light pine furniture that was given to all the soldiers in the RDF. Every here and there he would find a splash of yellow in the form of a painting or a cushion to break up the blues and silvers. Mostly the yellow was depictions of sunflowers and he suddenly realized that he had never known that sunflowers were Lisa's favorite flowers. The lack of pink made him more at ease in the room and made him feel less like he was an intruder in a feminine realm, like he had always felt when he had gone to Minmay's rooms. He felt as comfortable in her rooms as her presence always made him feel next to her.

"And this is my room…." Lisa said in an exaggerated manner, a bit of humor creeping in her voice. Her eyes were twinkling as the tables were inverted and it was now Rick who blushed as she caught him staring. "You have been here before, every time that you use my bathroom."

Rick scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "The image of that Lingerie shop incident is always in the back of my head anytime I come here. I always assume that if I take too long, even to sneak a peek, you'll think I'm a pervert."

Lisa blinked up at him and then burst out laughing, making him laugh too. "I would not have thought you were a pervert before. After your idea of the benefits thing though, now I know you are!" She said, laughing even harder.

"Oh really?" He said as he brought her closer to him in a bear hug. "Let's see who's a pervert now." He said with an evil smile as he lowered his lips to her and kissed her.

Their earlier humor, instead of making them feel silly, had served to make them feel more at ease with each other. This meant that instead of feeling self-conscious as they'd had before, they were now free to give in to the passion that had been held at bay for so long. Years of their unresolved sexual tension was finally coming to an end, and even though this was technically not their first time, it would be their first time being fully aware of each other. This fact, instead of making them feel nervous, was actually serving to pave the way for what was about to come.

Nibbling, teasing kisses came first but none of them were content with that. This was not a time for teasing, their raw passion was there, simmering, waiting to be uncovered so that they could be consumed. Rick's hands tightened over her flesh as he let his passion free reign. Lisa felt it and she allowed herself to give herself as much as she could, even though a small part of her knew that she had to protect the one thing that she could not give, her heart. For this night, and for however many nights this relationship would develop, she would give him her whole body, all that she was, but her heart she would protect.

Feeling her response, her total abandonment, Rick dragged them both to the edge of the bed where he sat with her in his lap. The position was reminiscent of the time when he carried her out of Alaska Base and it made her feel safe and protected, just like then. Unlike that time though, Rick now had his hand on her knee and his thumb was making little circles in the flesh that was still covered by her skirt. Little by little his hand grew bolder and ventured under the covered skin that he was touching for the first time.

Lisa was wearing a light blue peasant shirt with a few snap on buttons. She had figured that based on the activities that they were going to partake, the easier the garments were to come off, the better it would be.

Rick was just noticing that same detail right then, "Easy access! I like!" He said teasingly.

Slowly, delicately, he pulled the shirt off her shoulders, leaving her in a delicate looking bra that for some reason made him smile. The top was made of lace and he loved to see the flesh that overflowed the top of the cups and how it was half hidden by the lace. He had never really cared to pay attention to those kind of garments in the past, either because he really had not been with a lot of women or because frankly he had been in a hurry to what lay underneath. But with Lisa it was different. For some reason the half-hidden flesh intrigued him, and instead of rushing the unwrapping, he started tracing the bits of flesh the could see with his fingertips. His touch was delicate and it was driving her insane. She arched her spine, offering more of herself but still he wanted to take his time.

"Rick!" Lisa complained to him, she needed to feel more.

"Let me enjoy this." He said half-laughing as his hands traveled down her belly and back up again. He loved seeing her move against his wandering hands. He was fascinated with the unfamiliar creature he had in his arms. Rick had always wondered how Lisa would react while in the throes of passion and he had never imagined that she would be so responsive. She reminded him of the kittens he used to have when he was a kid, who would seek his touch with so much enjoyment. And just like a cat, she surprised him with her next unexpected move.

As pliable as she had been under his ministrations, she suddenly decided to turn the tables on him and pushed him back so that he lay in bed as she loomed over him. Her eyes took on a predatory look and she shifted her body so that she could sit more comfortably on him.

"Hunter, stop trying to find out if I'm ticklish and get on with it." She said in her best commander voice.

Rick started laughing at her impatience and he replied, "I don't need to find out where you are ticklish. I know you are ticklish here," He said as he lightly touched the underside of her neck and she recoiled with an involuntary giggle. "And here," he said tickling her belly with a mischievous smile.

Lisa swatted at his hand with a mock growl causing him to laugh even harder. He had never really laughed with anybody during sex or foreplay and he was finding this experience new and exhilarating. With her, he felt no pressure to try to pretend to be anybody else, he could be himself and he knew she would not mind. He also knew that her bark was worse than her bite and she really didn't mind his playfulness since her eyes were twinkling right back at him.

With another growl she grabbed both his hands and lay them on the bed, leaving him open to her gaze. "Now I have you at my mercy." She said triumphantly but instead of taking advantage of his vulnerability, she lowered her head to his and lay soft, playful kisses all over his face. "Now Mr Hunter, I think you are a tad overdressed. It's not fair. Tit for Tat." She said and she surprised herself with her boldness. Rick's eyes glittered in the semi-darkness created by the curtain of her hair as it fell around them, separating them from the rest of the world.

"I like it when you order me around." He said huskily,

Lisa crowed a laugh and replied, "Really, you could have fooled me! I know a lot of instances when you have complained about my bossyness."

"Not for this! I like when you order me around in bed, it's different." He said, laughter in his voice. Never in a million years he would have imagined that she would be like this in bed. He almost expected her to be shy and demure. But what he didn't realize yet is that as liberating as he found his experience with her, Lisa was finding out that their playfulness brought out another side of her that she never knew she had possessed. Rick's joy of life was contagious and she couldn't help but respond in kind.

Giving in completely to this new persona that she never knew she possessed, she moved away from his lap. When Rick looked at her questionly she mock ordered, "Well then, what are you waiting for, take your shirt off." She said, her voice authoritative but Rick could see the blush that she couldn't hide as it spread over her cheeks and chest.

"Yes ma'am." He said obediently as he got up from where he was lying and stood before her. As he was pulling his t-shirt off, he heard her grumble, "If only you were always this obedient…"

As he threw his shirt to the side, he laughingly said "Well I do have an incentive for following orders this time around." He started undoing the buckle of his pants and the closure when he heard her squeak, "What are you doing?" Her question made him pause and look up to her. Her hands were in front of her face, covering it. For a second he worried that she was backtracking out of her decision.

"I'm taking my pants off…" He said hesitantly.

"I didn't say anything about that!" Came a muffled exclamation.

"I just thought…We can't really do anything fully clothed." He commented, trying to broach the question if she was still interested or not.

"There you go, not following directions again! I knew it!" Lisa said and he suddenly realized that she was embarrassed by his near nakedness. The blush had only intensified until she looked like she was beet red behind her covering fingers.

He decided to give her a bit more time and he sat next to her in the bed, his chest bare and his pants undone. Hoping to bring back their teasing mood, he said in a flippant manner, "And you expected anything else? I thought you knew me better than that."

His comment served its purpose and a nervous giggle escaped from behind her hands. She slowly lowered her hands from her face and snuck a peek at him before raising her eyes to his smiling gaze. Seeing only patience and understanding there, she confessed "I'm not all that used to this kind of thing."

"You are doing just fine." He said warmly. He had been pleasantly surprised by her actions before but he had expected some shyness at some point. It was typical Lisa, even as friends, she would usually follow along in his line of teasing, and she would respond back with a couple of zingers that would delight him but then she would get to a point where she would clam up and become all shy again. It was one of those things he liked about her, that mixture of playfulness and innocence that made her who she was.

In an effort to put her at ease, he leaned on one of his hands while the other stroked her knee and thigh, which was left uncovered by her skirt. "Do you want me to stop?" He asked gently.

Lisa couldn't respond, his warm fingers were both soothing and erotic as they traveled along her thigh. With a quick shake of her head, she indicated to him that she wanted to continue. "Do you want me to move on?" He asked, his voice low and hypnotic. A nod and he took that as an indication to get back up and continue what he had been doing. When he at last stood before her in his black boxers she couldn't resist the urge to look at his body. She found that she liked what she was seeing. His muscles were lean and strong but not bulky like a bodybuilder. Without realizing what she was doing, she leaned forward until her hands were caressing his smooth chest. It wasn't until she heard his involuntary groan of pleasure that she looked up with widened eyes. Rick was looking at her intently, his hooded eyes begging for more just as his body arched to her touch.

Now Lisa knew it was her turn to make him feel as comfortable in his near nakedness as he had made her feel about her embarrassment a little while ago. Kneeling in the bed, she used her hands and mouth to explore the hard planes of his chest. Rick waited patiently while she got used to his body, all the while feeling the flames of desire licking at his body. Everywhere she touched she made come alive and he gritted his teeth as he let her take her fill. He knew she was ready when her hands moved away from his chest and roamed to his back, stroking the back of his thighs and buttocks. He couldn't help the involuntary thrust of his hips at the sensations she was causing in him. He wanted to feel more, he needed to feel more, he needed her!

Lisa must have understood his unspoken plea because she suddenly lay back in the bed, her magnificent hair spread all around her. Extending her hand to him, she huskily said, "I'm ready."

With a groan he couldn't hold back at her invitation, he twined their fingers together and moved his body to cover hers. Any part where flesh touched flesh burned with a delicious fire and they both realized that their earlier playfulness was gone to be replaced by an intensity that was threatening to tear down their self-control. With the speed of a striking feline, Rick captured her lips in a kiss that threatened to drown them. Their lips slanted over each others' in a battle of supremacy in which none of them wanted to give any quarters. Rick's free hand had again travelled under her skirt but this time his movements were bolder and his hand reached higher than he had ever done until his fingers were playing with the skin under the lace panties. He was suddenly realizing that he had a previously undiscovered fetish of lace over creamy skin. Either that or the sight of Lisa's pale skin covered by it was slowly becoming the fodder for new fantasies.

Rick's teeth nipped at the globes of her breast that threatened to spill out of their frilly confinement. Unable to contain himself any longer, he looked at her glittering jeweled eyes she answered his unspoken question by raising her torso a bit, inviting him to divest her of that maddening scrap of clothing that was obscuring his view. He reclaimed his hand from hers so he could easily unclasp the snap of her bra. The elastic caused the garment to slither away from her and he straddled her to take a good look at her. Gently, he helped her remove it from her arms. Her gaze skittered away from his and she had to resist the urge to cover herself again.

His eyes took the blushing face, from the roots of her hair to the area above her collarbone, and travelled down to the magnificent globes of her breasts to her shapely waist and concave belly. He delicately touched the bones of her pelvis that rose like sharp mountains over the valley of her belly and he marvelled at how her flat abdomen contracted even more in reaction to his explorations. His palms travelled over her ribcage, feeling the air expand and contract them as her breathing sped up. The anticipation was killing them both and they couldn't stop the moan that escaped their lips when his hands finally reached their destination and cradled her breasts. As he played with them, Lisa's hands traveled over his strong arms and she could feel the tension on them, how gentle he was being as he was holding back for her.

"You are so hot." He said reverently and she blushed even more. "I think now that there is somebody that is more overdressed than the other." He said teasingly and she recognized her own words thrown back at her. With a deft movement, he turned so that she was laying over him and she knew that the moment had come. It would be now or never. There would be no turning back after this. Rick looked at her intently, waiting for her answer. Instead of saying anything, she got up and stood by the bed, just as he had done. She undid the clasp of the skirt and with a whisper, the garment fell to the floor, leaving her almost bare to his avid gaze. Noticing the heat in his eyes and the marked evidence of his excitement, she decided to take the last step and bare herself to the man who she wished would be hers forever. Bravely she stood before him, only covered by her hair from his heated gaze.

"Come here." Now it was him who was giving the orders and he softened his words by extending his hand as she had done to him. She gratefully climbed over the bed and over his body, knowing that the proximity to him would cover her nakedness just as it would open new levels of intimacy between them.

Rick didn't allow her to stay on top for too long, as soon as her body covered his, he turned them both so he could be the one gently laying his weight over hers. As his body sheltered hers, he slowly realized that he was losing all scraps of whatever control he had. He had never expected to take such pleasure with just exploring any woman but he found that this game of fencing with their bodies had only served to fan the flames of his desire for this brave, shy woman that he held in his arms. She was part vixen and part innocent and she was completely driving him wild. Everything he gave, she took and gave back just as generously until their bodies were ready to take them to the next level.

After looking at her eyes for confirmation, Rick divested himself of the last barrier between their bodies. With breathing ragged and his arms trembling from holding back, he leaned over her until his lips were by her ear and he whispered, "Please…"

Lisa knew what he was asking, she knew that he couldn't hold any longer and that he had been so patient with her. Every step of the way, he didn't rush, making sure that she was comfortable before moving on. When she at last raised her hips in a silent answer to his plea, she knew that she would have no regrets. Even if this were to be the only night that they would share, she would keep this night close to her heart.

Their bodies rocked to the rhythm that would take them to completion. Their movements were at first gentle as a summer breeze but as their bodies built in frenzy, they were like a hurricane, wild and destructive. Because with the blinding passion that they were building, they were also destroying the old relationship that they had and creating a new one. And as their bodies reached that level of ultimate bliss, they couldn't help thinking that they had also destroyed their old selves and became new, reshaped by this experience.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An alarm blared near him and even though it was suddenly silenced, he couldn't help the involuntary jump his soldier's body made as he woke up in a state of alert. A soft hand landed over his hammering heart and a soothing voice said close to him, "Don't worry, it's just the alarm clock."

Not used to sleeping next to anybody, Rick snapped wide eyes to the person that shared the bed with him. Lisa, who had been laying on his bare chest seconds before the alarm would bring her back to reality, was now sitting next to him. Rick pushed himself up into a sitting position against the backrest of the bed as he looked at her. As he sat up, the thin blanket that separated his chest from her gaze fell to his waist and Lisa suddenly felt shy and looked away from his groggy gaze. In the meantime, Rick took his time to look at her and he noticed that while he slept she must have gotten up and gotten dressed as she was now wearing a soft night shirt with thin straps that left her arms bare and a scooped neckline that barely covered her full breasts. The hemline barely reached her knees which peeked under it as she sat over her legs in a semi-kneeling position. She looked young and innocent as she avoided his gaze.

"Hey," He said softly as he turned towards her. While he rested his weight in one arm, he extended the other one so that his fingers could tilt her chin towards him. Huge luminous eyes observed him silently. "No regrets, right?"

A soft smile mimicked his as she shook her head gently and she said, "No regrets."

"Are you ok?" He asked and she remembered their conversation from the day before and how concerned he had been about her well being.

"I'm perfectly fine." She responded and he gave a satisfied grunt that made her smile widen at the perfectly male sound of it.

"I guess I should get going, huh…" He said reluctantly, not only was her bed inviting and her room cozy but he found that he did not want to leave her side.

A shadow of sadness clouded her eyes for a brief moment but was gone before he could remark about it. Lowering her lashes, she looked at him from under them and her voice had a bit of a tease as she said, "Not unless you want to start a scandal by sleeping with your CO."

Just thinking about the Terrible Trio and their gossip factory was enough to kill any romantic mood that might have been resurrected between them. With a grimace at the idea, Rick said, "Ok, ok, I'm up. There's no incentive as avoiding being the fodder to the Trio's gossip." He said teasingly and Lisa smiled slightly. Her smile faded however as soon as he turned his back to her to find his clothing. A tiny part of her had hoped that by giving herself to him he would realize how much she cared for him and would make him think of her differently but his willingness to leave indicated something different. She watched him in silence as he put more and more barriers between them until he was back again Rick Hunter and not the tender lover that had made her body feel more alive than in the last four years of her life.

Rick turned to her, furiously thinking what to say to his friend who now was much more than that but as he saw her unguarded moment of sadness, his breath caught in his throat. Her vulnerability touched something deep in him that he could not begin to identify. Not knowing what to do or say, he just let his heart decide and he leaned over the covers that were still rumpled from their activities and he kissed her lightly in the lips.

"Take care." He said his usual goodbye, the words falling out of his lips naturally.

At his usual words, her eyes lost her haunted look and she gave him a soft smile. "Take care yourself, flyboy." She answered back.

"I'll text you when I get home." He said, as they walked to the door. He knew from experience she would worry if he did not.

She nodded. "Have a good night." She said as stood half hidden by the door.

Mindful of who could be watching, he leaned over her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. With that he left, his mind still trying to understand the enormity of what they had done. As he walked to his house he kept replaying every touch, every kiss and all the things he had felt as he had given himself to the woman that until two nights ago had only been his best friend. He was so overwhelmed with all that he had felt and done that he couldn't handle the enormity of the shift that this night had created in them, so in typical Rick Hunter fashion, he pushed it to the further recesses of his mind and soul and decided to ignore it completely. Because deep down he knew that if he analyzed it too closely he might have to reevaluate his life completely and he was not yet ready for that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A couple of days later, Lisa was walking out of her office, her head in the clouds. It had been days since Rick and her had coincided at the base. She was mostly working days since she was overseeing the construction of the SDF-2. Rick on the other hand was all over the place, especially when he was sent out to nearby towns. The only times they would see each other was in their respective houses when either one would stop by. Sometimes they would have all the time in the world to explore themselves and what they had. In other cases they only had time to share heated kisses that promised more for the next time they met.

She had not walked too far from her office when she spied the messy head of hair of the pilot that had turned her whole life upside down since the day they had met.

"Oh hi Rick." She said shyly, still not used to seeing him at work after the shift in their relationship.

Without breaking his stride, Rick grabbed her forearm and gently dragged her back to her office. "Morning, we need to talk." He said somberly.

.

Lisa's held her breath in trepidation as her steps fell with his. The only time that Rick talked to her in that tone was when he was mad at her. Seeing that they had not fought over anything and he should have no reason to be angry at her, she thought that maybe his seriousness was due to the fact that he was rethinking their relationship.

While they walked in tense silence to her office, her mind was going over different ways that she could brush off gracefully out of their newfound relationship before she broke down in front of him.

As soon as they came in, Rick let go of her arm and closed the door behind him. Lisa closed her eyes briefly, gathering strength for the conversation looming in front of them but before she could say anything, Rick said, "People are starting to talk." He said, looking at her very seriously.

"What?" Lisa was caught by surprise. They had tried to act just as normally as usual. "What are they saying?"

"Does it matter? They are implying that our mood has improved because we are going out together in secret." Rick said distractedly, he seemed like he deep in thought.

"I knew it! I knew this was a bad idea. So we are going to stop, right? That's what you dragged me in here for?"

"What? What! No." Rick stopped his pacing and looked at her surprised. "What do you mean about stopping this? No, that's not why I brought you here! I brought you here to let you know so that you are not caught off guard and so we can come up with our fake significant others."

Lisa blinked at that, stunned by his answer. "You want this thing to continue?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I do." He said as he walked towards her and stood close to her. His hands started caressing the back of her arms languidly as he slowly, languidly, brought her body flush to his. His body heat enveloped her and she closed her eyes as she inhaled his scent. Rick crooked his finger under her chin and raised her face towards him. Lowering his face to hers, he softly brushed his lips over hers. Without raising his lips from hers, so that she could still feel his lips moving against hers, he whispered. "Don't you want this? Don't you want me?"

Lisa kept her eyes closed, first because of his proximity and second to hide the turmoil on her soul. A soft sound, like a plea, escaped her lips. She couldn't think right now, his proximity, the barest hint of his breath, the promise of the kiss that he was withholding was wreaking havoc with her. It was now her who held on to his biceps as she needed an anchor. Sensing her weakness, he brushed his lips against her jawline and then continued down the column of her neck.

"Rick…" She whispered overcome with her feelings.

"Lisa, do you want me?" He repeated again, this time against the crook of her neck. He felt slightly guilty about manipulating her but he really did not want to lose this thing that he had with her. He didn't even know what kind of relationship they had or where it was going but he knew that he needed her. She had become his new addiction, as addicting as flying used to be when he was in the Flying Circus and he could to fly for the love of it. With her, in her arms and in her body, he felt that same freedom and he was scared of letting her go when he had just started to get to know her.

"Yes." Her voice, when she finally responded was a cross between a sigh and a plea.

He couldn't stop himself from responding to her plea and he returned his lips to hers and he kissed her deeply. The kiss was brief but intense. There was planning still to be done. He wanted to protect the secrecy of this relationship, to keep it all to himself like a greedy miser holding to his precious treasure.

"Good." He said, giving her a blinding, happy smile. He kissed her forehead and separated himself from her before he gave in and tried to seduce her in her own office. And although that was a recurring fantasy from even before they had started this relationship, now was not the time for it.

"Ok so here's what I think we should say…" Rick started to lay out his outrageous plan.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

That same day, the whole base was abuzz with the new rumors. Cheryl, Lucy and Hannah, who fancied themselves to be the apprentices of the infamous Trio, were in the Mess Hall commenting about the newest information on what was fast becoming The Saga of all time.

"Did you hear that Captain Hayes dumped Captain Hunter?" Hannah said conspiratorially.

"No way! She was so hung up over him!" Lucy replied.

"Good riddance, he doesn't deserve her." Hannah waved her off.

"Wait a second. How do you know?"

"Well Nathan from Communications heard from Martha, the one that relieves the bridge crew, who overheard Sammy and Vanessa talking about Captain Hayes. Vanessa apparently overheard the Captains talking about some people they had met. Also the girls said that Captain Hunter had asked Captain Hayes if she was busy on Friday and she said she might have to check her calendar." Hannah informed the other two.

"She could have been just teasing him."

"No because then he said that he knew she was going to be busy from now on. I think he knows something."

"Ha! You both know nothing!" Cheryl, who had been avidly listening to the conversation and waiting for her moment to chime in, finally said.

"Really and what do you know?" Hannah asked her.

"Well Larry from the maintenance crew told me that he overheard the Captains discussing something and Captain Hunter told Captain Hayes that he was really happy for her, that she deserved to move on."

"Wow, you really think so? You think that she met someone?" Lucy asked.

"Sounds like it… Hey Cheryl, how is it that Larry told you that. Do you both have something?" Hannah said, smelling another juicy story.

"What? I have no idea what you are talking about!"

…..

"Care to tell me what is up with those rumors that you are seeing someone?" An imperious voice asked behind her, making her jump.

"Clau! What are you talking about?" Lisa said, her eyes avoiding her friend.

"After all this time, you do not tell me first about it? I had to hear it from some second grade gossip mongers? Not even the Trio of Terror!"

"Shh Claudia, I don't want to talk about it here!" Lisa said, pretending to be uncomfortable with the line of questioning, which in part she was. As she had planned, the fact that she was trying to hush Claudia and avoid the topic had served to pique the interest of the rest of the bridge crew. It also served to incense her friend who kept demanding for them to talk, albeit in a softer tone.

"Really Clau, there is not much to talk about. I just kind of met a guy in the bar the other night but it is not serious at all! I almost would not have given him the time of day if Rick had not dared me to do something about it."

"Rick did." She deadpanned.

"Yes, apparently he has this fixation that I have not gotten over Carl." Which was actually true. Lisa had been shocked when Rick had started outlining his plan and kept mentioning Carl as the reason why she has not moved on and found another guy.

"That idiot thinks you are still hung up over Carl?" Lisa nodded, glad she was telling the truth there. "That is classic Hunter, trying to help and getting all the signals crossed. Of course he would realize you are hung up over someone but instead of realizing it's him, he thinks it's Carl!"

"Regardless maybe it is time to move on. I'm just going to start seeing other people and Mark is the first one."

"Mark, huh! Ok, just be careful and don't get too crazy."

"I promise…"

"Do we all still have a date at your crazy friend's house tomorrow?"

"Yep! As far as I can tell, it still stands."

"Ok, I'll meet you there. See you tomorrow!"

And with that, the wheels had been set into motion and there was truly no going back now.


End file.
